San Vitale, Ravenna

San Vitale is one of the most important surviving examples of Byzantine architecture and mosaic work. It was begun in 526 or 527 under Ostrogothic rule. It was consecrated in 547 and completed soon after. Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Steven Zucker.Created byBeth Harris and Steven Zucker.

[MUSIC PLAYING] DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: We're in
the Italian city of Ravenna, standing outside of the
Church of San Vitale. This is a really important
6th century church. It's just really old. DR. BETH HARRIS: And
it's unusual in that it's a centrally planned church. That means its focus is on its
center instead of a basilica, which has a long, or
longitudinal, axis. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Right. When we think about a
church, we generally think about a building
that's shaped like a cross. And it has that long
hallway, the nave. This doesn't have that. Instead, it's got an
ambulatory, or an aisle that surrounds
its central space. In this particular case, on
the east side of the church, there's also an extension
with an apse at the end. DR. BETH HARRIS: Looking at
the outside of San Vitale, we see that it has eight sides. So it's an octagon. And within that octagon
is a smaller octagon that rises higher. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: The exterior
of the church is brick. Those bricks were taken
from ancient Roman buildings and reused here in
the 6th century. The walls are pierced
with lots of windows. And that's especially
important because the interior is covered with some of the
most magnificent mosaics that survived from the
early Medieval period. DR. BETH HARRIS:
And of course, you'd want that light
glistening on the gold and beautifully colored mosaics. Let's go inside and have a look. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: We've
walked into the church. And the center towers over us. DR. BETH HARRIS: And
yet these apse-like shapes that are supported
by columns undulates and moves around us. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
There are massive piers that help support the building. But there's also
a real delicacy. Look, for instance, at
the way that the columns are doubled, that is,
stacking of one set of columns above the next. DR. BETH HARRIS: And
they move in and out back into the space of the
ambulatory on the ground floor and then up into
the gallery above. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: But the
real gem in this Church can be seen on the east end. Let's walk over there. The eastern end of San
Vitale is completely covered in dense mosaic. DR. BETH HARRIS:
These tiny pieces of glass and glass sandwiching
gold that reflect the light. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
We're walking up towards the apse now,
the semicircular space. There are three large windows. And just about that,
a large apse mosaic. DR. BETH HARRIS:
And in the center, we see Christ dressed
royally in purple sitting on an orb, the orb of the
Earth, of the universe. Below flow the four
rivers of paradise. And on either side
of him, an angel. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
Christ is holding the book of the apocalypse
with the seven seals visible. And in his right hand,
he's handing a crown to San Vitalis, who was
adopted as the primary martyr of this city. DR. BETH HARRIS: And
on the other side, we see Ecclesius, who
founded and sponsored the building of this church. And we see him handing
the church to the angel beside Christ. Every surface here in the
apse is covered with imagery, with figures, with
decorative patterning. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
The only surfaces that really are stone are of
a very decorative marble, cut to pair and create
wonderful abstract designs. It is this lush, glorious
space here in this city that's distant, perhaps, from
the capital of the empire, but that speaks
to its importance. DR. BETH HARRIS:
Right above the altar, we see an image of
the Lamb of God. And the Lamb of God
refers to Christ. He's wearing a halo,
this idea of Christ as the sacrificial
lamb, sacrificed for the redemption of mankind. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
The lamb in surrounded by a wreath of victory. In this case, the idea of the
triumph of Christianity itself. And that wreath is held in
place by four angels who stand on globes that
refer to the globe upon which Christ
in the apse sits. DR. BETH HARRIS: And
then we see Christ again, but this time bearded,
older, in the archway at the beginning of the chancel. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Right. The triumphal arch has
Christ in the center. It's really a kind of
bust-length portrait. And his body is surrounded
by a [INAUDIBLE], kind of rainbow-colored halo. And then, moving down
the arch on either side are 14 figures,
including the apostles. DR. BETH HARRIS: We see
scenes from the Old Testament, specifically ones that
pre-figure the life of Christ and Christ's sacrifice. And we see scenes from
the New Testament. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: They're also
fabulously decorative columns made our of a
high-quality marble that was brought from the east. What's most remarkable
about these columns for me is that we've really left
behind the classical orders. These are not Doric, they're not
Ionic, they're not Corinthian. They are early Christians
trying to invent a new iconography for
their architecture. DR. BETH HARRIS: And
on top of the capitals, we see something
called impost blocks that help make the
transition up to the arches. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: The two most
important mosaics in San Vitale flank the apse . DR. BETH HARRIS: And those
show the emperor Justinian and his empress Theodora. Now, Justinian and Theodora
never actually came to Ravenna. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: And
they're in the mosaics, we think, to reassert their
control over the city. DR. BETH HARRIS: For
much of the 400s, Ravenna was under the
control of a Goth, Theodoric, and Theodoric was
an Arian, that is, he didn't follow the orthodoxy,
the orthodox doctrines of the church. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: And
basically, the Arians believed that Christ was the
creation of God the Father and therefore was subordinate
in the hierarchy of the Trinity. DR. BETH HARRIS:
Christ was a co-equal with God the Father
the way he is in orthodox Christian belief. And so Justinian, the
emperor in Constantinople in the early 500s, sends
his general, Belisarius, to conquer Italy, to reconquer
Ravenna, and reestablish orthodox Christian
belief here in Ravenna. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: And the
Arian belief was suppressed. And so what we're seeing
here is the reassertion of Eastern imperial control. That is, Justinian is in
Constantinople in the east, and he is saying, I'm in charge
even here in Ravenna, in Italy. DR. BETH HARRIS:
Spiritual power go hand in hand with
political power, with the power of the emperor. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: We see
Justinian in the center wearing purple, the color that is
associated with the throne. And he's surrounded
by his court. But there are also religious
figures representing the church and there are soldiers, three
centers of power-- the church, the emperor, and the military. DR. BETH HARRIS: We can see
that some of the figures are treated more
individualistically than others. Justinian, Maximian are
more individualized. And it's possible that
people at the time would have looked
up and recognized the other figures who
are lost to us today. But the figures from the
army are much more anonymous. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Justinian,
the emperor authority, is divine. You can see a halo
around his head. And he holds a bowl associated
with the Eucharist, which is handing in the direction
of Christ in the apse. DR. BETH HARRIS: Right. This is a bowl that
would have contained the bread for the
sacrament of the Eucharist. He's in the center
of the composition. He's frontal. But really, all of the figures
in this mosaic are front. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: They
are schematic, abstracted. This is the Medieval. We've left the Classical
tradition of naturalism behind. DR. BETH HARRIS: And so if we
look closely at the figures, we can see that there's no
real concern for accurate proportions. Their feet don't
really seem to carry the weight of their bodies. They seem to float in
an eternal space and not in an earthly space. Next to Justinian, we
see the bishop, Maximian, with his name above him,
although that was added later. And beside him, other clergymen. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
Maximian holds a beautiful jeweled cross. And he wears the same
purple that the emperor wears, associating
him with the power of the emperor in
Constantinople. DR. BETH HARRIS: The
figures next to him hold a jeweled book
of the Gospels. And the figure at the far
right holds an incense burner. What we're seeing
here is the emperor leading a procession
for the enactment of the sacrament
of the Eucharist. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: And in fact. The Eucharist would have been
performed in the sanctuary. The figures stand in front
of a field of gold, which is very much a
Byzantine tradition. DR. BETH HARRIS: And
when we say Byzantine, we're referring to the
capital of the empire, which is a Constantinople. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: Which
we now call Istanbul. You'll notice that
the tesserae, that is, these small pieces
of colored glass, many of them with gold leaf
that is actually fused almost like a sandwich in between
two pieces of clear glass, are set into the wall at angles
so that the light reflects off them in a way that is
complicated and beautiful and creates a sense of the
liveliness of the surface. And that would have
been especially true when it was illuminated by
candles and by lanterns. Let's walk around
to the other side and take a look at
the panel devoted to Theodora, Justinian's wife. To the right of
the apse windows, we see the panel of
Theodora, the empress. And it mirrors the
panel with Justinian. DR. BETH HARRIS:
So we have an idea that Theodora,
Justinian's empress, ruled as co-equal to
Justinian, that she was a very powerful woman,
even though she was repeatedly of lower class, that she was
an entertainer apparently. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: There are
some colorful descriptions of her past. She's wearing incredibly
elaborate clothing and jewelry with rubies, with
emeralds, with sapphires, and very large pearls. And in back of her head,
just like Justinian, is a halo, which speaks
not to her own divinity, but to the divine
origin of her authority. DR. BETH HARRIS:
Like Justinian, who's carrying a bowl that held
the bread for the Eucharist, Theodora is carrying the chalice
for the wine for the Eucharist. And like Justinian,
too, she's surrounded by attendants that symbolize
the imperial court. A curtain is raised
as though she is about to take part
in a ceremony related to the Eucharist. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
I'm really taken by the elaborate
Byzantine costume. DR. BETH HARRIS:
Well, there's a sense of trying to bring the
richness of the imperial court in Constantinople
here to Ravenna. [MUSIC PLAYING]